The unforgettable taste of cherry pie

Tart and tangy, cherry pie is delicious........ but not for one Rasmuson Foundation staff member. Director of Operations Denise Burger recently served cherry pie to the team here and shared the story of her deep dislike for the dessert as we launched a workplace campaign to support the United Way of Anchorage.

United Way of Anchorage collaborates with a broad range of service partners to affect change in three primary areas: Education: Helping Children and Youth Achieve Their Potential; Income: Guiding Families to Financial Stability; and Health: Improving People’s Health. United Way’s goal is to create long lasting changes that prevent problems from occurring in the first place.

The United Way of Anchorage has put the call out to individuals, companies, government and labor to support positive and lasting change in the lives of people in our community. They invite all of us to LIVE UNITED.

Organizations and companies can join the challenge with a workplace campaign. They’re a great way to live out an organization’s values and boost employee morale. For more information about conducting a United Way campaign at your workplace, click here.

This year, the Foundation’s workplace campaign is being championed by Denise. To get us revved up for the campaign, she promised to eat a large slice of the pie if we met our campaign goal. It was only after Denise shared a personal story about a time early in her life when the cupboards were empty and she could have used the assistance of United Way and its service partners that we understood the importance of the pie. Denise recalled eating a lot of cherry pie during that challenging time and not only did she dislike that particular type of pie, over time, she came to equate it with unpleasant circumstances.

She is therefore particularly excited about United Way’s Alaska 211 phone hotline, which provides a one-stop-shop source of information about a range of community services. Think about it like the 911 of social services. Trained operators connect thousands of Alaskans in need with the range of important services that can help them better meet life’s unexpected challenges.

In a devilish sort of way, we look forward to watching Denise eat her cherry pie, but only because it means that our campaign met or exceeded its goals. But more importantly, we hope that perhaps cherry pie will come to represent here the power of United Way’s ongoing commitment to building a stronger community by making a positive difference in the lives of both individuals and families.

We invite you to join us and Live United!